Fennel is in fine fettle in many forms

When shaved raw over salads or oven-roasted on pizzas, fennel is easy. But many home cooks don't go beyond those uses.

"Some people are scared of it because they don't know what to do with it," says chef Shane Solomon of Pizzeria Stella, a Starr Group eatery that opened to savory reviews at Second and Lombard Streets about a year ago.

That is, in part, Solomon says, because unlike other root vegetables, fennel has not really been a mainstay for American cooks.

"When I've been out shopping and I take it to the register," Solomon says, "the cashier even asks what it is."

Fennel is rich in potassium, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and fiber. And it's a versatile veggie that can be consumed raw or cooked and takes well to braising. From seeds and fronds to stalks and bulb, every part is edible.

When it is cooked, the flavor is actually milder than might be expected, says Marcie Turney, who, with partner Valerie Safran, recently opened Barbuzzo Mediterranean Kitchen, the couple's fourth restaurant on South 13th Street.

The vegetable board at Barbuzzo features shaved raw fennel, celery hearts, and brussels sprouts in a tarragon dressing. A pasta special mixes squid ink tagliatelle, Manila clams, Calabrian chiles, and mint with baby fennel, which is smaller and more tender than the full-size stuff.

"I love the aroma and the crunch of fennel," Turney says. "It's good in jams with blood oranges. And I think the flavor is muted a bit when it's cooked. That's definitely the case in bouillabaisse - it lets the seafood star."

Fennel cleanses the palate too, so at Bindi, Turney and Safran's Indian eatery on 13th Street, candy-coated fennel seeds sit in a bowl by the door like after-dinner mints.

"It's really an essential Mediterranean ingredient," says Solomon at Pizzeria Stella, who pairs it with grilled octopus. Fennel goes well with scallops, striped bass, or anchovies. It's a natural with cured meats, sausage, lamb, or pork shanks.

"You apply it as you would an onion," Solomon says. He makes fennel sausage in-house and wood-fires it on pizza.

At Lacroix, Jason Cichonski makes a fennel soup that is like no other.

Imagine rich, deeply flavorful, utterly smooth soup poured from a small pitcher into a wide bowl where it meets and melds with brown butter-cookie crumbs, peeled muscat grapes, and a dollop of maitake mushroom ice cream. The juxtaposition of textures in Cichnoski's soup is as tasty as it is complicated. But the chef graciously gave us a simplified version for home cooks (see recipe).

At Restaurant Alba in Malvern, chef Sean Weinberg says he's a fennel freak.

"I lived in Italy for a while, and they used it in so many ways there."

For an easy fennel coulis to serve with seafood, Weinberg says, start with 2 bulbs of fennel for 4 servings. Remove and discard the core, then cut the bulbs into medium-thick slices. Sweat these in a pan with olive oil for three to five minutes (in other words, cook over low to medium heat until the aromas are released and the fennel is tender but does not change color).

Add enough good white wine to cover the fennel (about 1 to 11/2 cups). Continue to cook over medium heat until the wine is reduced by a little more than half. Then add enough vegetable stock to cover the fennel and simmer for an additional five to 10 minutes, reducing the liquid another half inch.

Remove the mixture from the heat and cool just a bit so you don't burn yourself during the next step: pureeing in the blender.

Add salt and pepper, a tablespoon or two of olive oil, the juice of one orange, and puree until smooth.

The coulis can be served warm or at room temperature. It freezes well. And you can add some cream to the leftover coulis the next day to make a pasta sauce. Or, Weinberg says, add olive oil and make it into a marinade for shrimp.

He buys from several local farms and says this year's crop was great.

"I think the fennel really enjoyed this summer's drought," Weinberg said. "When you get it fresh locally, it's almost a crime to cook it - it's that sweet and tender."

Makes eight 6-ounce servings

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5 large heads of fennel

3 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

1 ounce fresh ginger

2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil

1 cup   white wine

½ cup Pernod

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

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1. Remove the fronds of the fennel (save a few for garnish if you like). Thinly slice the bulbs of fennel along with the shallots, garlic, and ginger.

2. Heat a medium-large pot on the stove with the oil. Add the sliced fennel, shallots, garlic, and ginger and sweat until translucent. Add the white wine and Pernod and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Cover the fennel with 1 inch of water and add the cream. Cook until all the ingredients are soft, about 20 minutes after it begins to simmer.

3. Puree the fennel in a blender, adding the cooking liquid as needed to achieve soup consistency. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and season with salt and pepper, as desired.

Per serving: 244 calories, 3 grams protein, 14 grams carbohydrates, 0.3 grams sugar, 15 grams fat, 41 milligrams cholesterol, 89 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 4 to 6 servings

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2 tablespoons butter or olive

   oil

2 to 3 fennel bulbs, trimmed

   and halved or quartered

   lengthwise

Salt and freshly milled

   pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine or

   water

1/3 cup freshly grated

   Parmesan

Chopped fennel greens or

   parsley

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1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Rub with butter a baking dish large enough to hold the fennel in a single layer.

2. Steam the fennel for 10 minutes, then arrange in the dish. Dot with butter or drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add the wine. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the cover, baste the fennel with its juice, then add the cheese and continue baking until the fennel is completely tender, about 10 minutes more.

3. Serve with chopped fennel greens or parsley.

Per serving (based on 6): 93 calories, 3 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, trace sugar, 5 grams fat, 14 milligrams cholesterol, 136 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 4 servingsEndTextStartText

2 large fennel bulbs

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

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1. Trim the fennel bulbs, removing any tough outer layers. Cut the bulbs in half vertically, cut out the cores, and cut the bulbs into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, and when the oil is hot, add the sliced fennel (if necessary, cook the fennel in two batches; the fennel should brown, not steam). Cook, tossing or stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the fennel is caramelized and tender. Season with salt and pepper. Drain off any excess oil and serve.

Per serving: 164 calories, 2 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams sugar, 14 grams fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 76 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber.EndText

makes 2 servings

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Leaves of 2 pieces of fennel

8 ounces linguine

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 can anchovy fillets, drained and chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Crushed black pepper to taste

Juice of 1/2 lemon

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1. Pick the most tender feathery leaves from each piece of fennel, taking them from the center of the lower stalks of the fennel bulbs. Parboil for abut 30 seconds. Drain, cool and chop them fine. Set aside.

2. Cook the linguine in rapidly boiling salted water.

3. Meanwhile, using a mortar, mash the garlic cloves and anchovy fillets into a paste and thin with the olive oil. Add the chopped fennel leaves (proportions of garlic, anchovy, fennel, and oil and may be varied to suit your taste). Warm in a pan.

4. When the pasta is done, drain and toss with the warm fennel-anchovy mixture. Season with pepper and lemon, as desired.

Per serving: 688 calories, 23 grams protein, 82 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams sugar, 33 grams fat, 90 milligrams cholesterol, 994 milligrams sodium, 11 grams dietary fiber.EndText